


A moment of Respite

by IdeaHunter



Category: RWBY
Genre: Board game rage, Cooking, F/F, Girls Being Girls, Happy Family, Nuts and Dolts (Mentioned), Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29131152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IdeaHunter/pseuds/IdeaHunter
Summary: Coming back from Atlas to help Beacon, team RWBY spends some time at the Xiao Long household.Just a quick, innocent and fluffy fic about relax and everyday activities.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose
Kudos: 25





	1. Coming home

"Blake!" Ruby threw herself on her teammate, hugging her at the height of the diaphragm and emptying her lungs. “I'm so glad you came! Dad couldn't wait to meet you! " Blake caught her breath pulling the leader off her: “The pleasure is all mine, Ruby. And besides, Patch isn't too far from Beacon "

It had been just three months since Salem's attempt to siege Atlas. After repelling the waves of grimm and drastically reducing the witch's strength, everyone felt the need to do something less tiring. Team RWBY decided, almost unanimously, to return to Vale to help the professors free Beacon and restore the CCT tower to strengthen communication between the kingdoms: after everything that happened to Atlas, fighting hordes of grimm in the ghost city felt almost like a vacation . Team JNPR, on the other hand, opted to go to Mistral to help with the reopening of Haven, promising to return to Beacon as soon as the school and the relic of knowledge were safe. Yang and Ruby offered to host their teammates at their place before leaving, a proposal that Weiss and Blake accepted with pleasure, looking forward to at least a couple of days in peace.

Blake entered the house putting the luggage aside: "Where are Yang and Weiss?" Ruby went to the staircase knocking against the wall: “Weiss! Yang! Blake is here! " There was a sound of the door being slammed, of quick footsteps, and the figure of the heiress came around the corner: "Blake! I was starting to worry! " she said as she hugged her. Blake chuckled: "The Xiao Long household isn't exactly around the corner, and Yang's directions didn't help" Ruby looked around: "Speaking of which, where is She?" Weiss pointed to the back door. “In the garage. She said she wanted to take a look at Hornet, whatever that means.” At that moment the door swung open, letting in a Yang smeared with motor oil and a middle-aged man who looked like a male version of Yang. The blonde grinned at the sight of Blake: “Hey Blakey! Took you long enough!" The faunus rolled her eyes: “Thanks to your directions. You aren't the best guide in Remnant”. Yang took off her work gloves and giggled: “The good one with words is you. I'm much better with the hands.” She added with a wink that made the Faunus blush deeply. The man patted the blonde's cheek: "Before you start flirting, go take a shower missy" She greoaned. "Dad, you're embarrassing me in front of my friends!" He replied without missing a beat: "I assure you, with that hair you're embarrassing yourself already." The answer made all the girls laugh except Yang, who sighed in defeat: "Fiiiiiiine" and then headed upstairs. The man chuckled turning to Blake: "You must be Blake" She smiled and nodded: "Exactly. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Xiao Long.”He waved his hand in a gesture of nonchalance: “Call me Taiyang. Mr. Xiao Long makes me look old" Then he turned to his other daughter: "Ruby, show Blake around. When Yang comes out of the shower we'll make dinner ”.

Yang got out of the shower after an hour, giving Blake plenty of time to pack her bags in the room and go out to see the field. The sun on the horizon painted the sky with warm colors, interrupted by the pink of the clouds and the profiles of the trees; Blake inhaled the fresh air as she raised her arms and stretched, letting the stress slip away from her. When she lowered them she felt more serene than she had ever been in her life. Suddenly she felt tight to her waist and Yang's head rested on her shoulder: "Are you enjoying the view?" Blake stroked her hair: “And the quiet. I don't even remember the last time I really relaxed" Yang yawned: "We deserve it. We saved Atlas, didn't we? " Blake yawned in turn: “We did. And we'll be back to work soon to save all of Remnant." The blonde pouted at her, “Hey, no talking about work at Patch, okay? Let's act like girls our age, for once. " Blake chuckled: "Fair enough." They watched the horizon until the sun disappeared behind the hills and the sky turned purple, with the first stars starting to shine. Suddenly they heard Ruby's voice calling them from the kitchen window: "Lovebirds, will you come and help us with dinner or are you hoping to eat free?" This time it was Yang's turn to blush as Blake laughed: "We're coming in a moment"

Ruby sighed and went back to Weiss, who was being very careful not to cut her fingers along with the carrots. The leader stood beside her giggling: "How's it going?" Weiss gave her the dirty look she used to give her back at Beacon: "Why don't you help me instead of acting like your sister?" Ruby smiled defiantly, took an onion and a knife and turned to Weiss: "Watch..." she cut the onion in half "... and learn". Under the astonished eyes of her friend, the leader shredded the onion halves so quickly that it seemed she had used her semblance. Weiss went back to cutting the carrots trying to keep up, while Taiyang chuckled: "I don't remember teaching you to showoff" Ruby poked her tongue out at her father as she tossed the onion into the pan along with the chicken shreds. Yang and Blake re-entered as Weiss cut her finger, squealing like one of Zwei's toys. Blake laughed: "Want to leave the cutting to me?" Weiss healed the cut with her aura, sighing: "Deal." Yang pointed to where the plates were while she put the tablecloth with her mouth. Ruby looked at her sister: "Where's your other arm?" the blonde pointed above: “it's soaking in the degreaser. I don't want to stain half a house with motor oil." Taiyang poured the milk into the pan, addressing his daughter: "Good. Also because I would have you do the cleaning" Blake threw the chopped carrots into the pan: "Yang, Is Hornet what I think it is? " The blonde smiled passing the spices to her father, who proceeded to sprinkle them on the chicken: “If you're thinking of the bike that Pietro gave me to Atlas, you've hit the nail. I had to make a couple of changes to make her less dependent on gravitational dust" Ruby retorted, setting the timer on the scroll: "General Ironwood has lifted the dust embargo, so prices should be back to normal." Weiss replied putting the plates: “It's not that fast. And even then, gravitational dust is the most expensive type after hard light dust" Taiyang sat down at the table: “You can't imagine how strange it is for me to hear you talk about politics and dust embargo. It seems like yesterday when Ruby came home with a tiny dog begging me to keep it" Zwei barked happily as Yang chuckled: “I remember that. You wanted to get a parrot, but Ruby practically forced you to keep the dog" Blake smiled sweetly stroking the puppy's head: "Ruby, that's the sweetest thing I've heard about you since I can remember" the leader leaned on the wall looking ten years older than she actually was: “Because you only pay attention to the stupid things I do. I can be cute too.” Weiss rolled her eyes.“ Like every single time you're with Penny?” Ruby began to stutter red as a pepper, making Taiyang and all the girls laugh.

The Chicken Curry was finished in less than ten minutes, while another twenty were spent telling Yang and Ruby's father about the team's adventures. Whenever they mentioned Raven or Salem Taiyang frowned for a moment, then dismissed any thoughts he had in mind with a wave of his hand and begged the girls to continue. When they came to Argus' little incident, Ruby was having a hard time keeping her eyes open; Yang smiled: “What do you say we continue tomorrow? We all could use some sleep."Blake nodded and yawned. "Fine by me. I slept ten minutes in the last twenty-four hours" Taiyang looked at the clock that pointed eleven pm, addressing the girls:"You'd better get ready for sleep. No alarm tomorrow, ok?" Weiss sprawled in her chair: "I didn't think I'd ever hear these words again in my life" Blake chuckled getting up:" The bathroom is mine." Yang jumped up: "No way! I'm going first!" With a smirk the two ran up the stairs while Weiss sighed: "They're behaving like children..." Taiyang smiled: "Leave them be. Rather, help Ruby going in her room, okay?" Weiss struggled to get up and helped Ruby up the stairs, both of them on the verge of falling asleep. Upstairs, Yang was leaning against the bathroom door watching her firends walk into their rooms with a smile. Her father's voice came from downstairs: “I don't want to hear weird noises tonight! Yang, I'm talking to you!” Luckily no one could see her blushing like a stove.

Locked in her room, Blake snuggled into Yang's chest. Patch's nights weren't nearly as cold as Atlas', but the Blonde's warmth kept giving her confidence. Yang was holding the faunus with her good arm, stroking her hair from time to time, while she slept on top of her purring softly. Yang gave her a quick kiss on the back of her neck, before closing her eyes and, for the first time since the Fall of Beacon, falling asleep peacefully.


	2. Animals, board games and old rivals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soo, this chapter came a lot, LOT longer than expected...well, i hope is all good.

Ruby sat up on the bed, stretching and yawning. Outside the window, the birds were singing in the fresh air of a spring morning; Ruby got out of bed and opened the window, letting the sun's rays in the room. The girl smiled as she looked out over the countryside, leaning on her elbows and enjoying the first quiet morning in months. A voice called from below: poking her head down she saw Yang waving at her with her robotic hand, dressed in a sports top and shorts, her hair tied in a ponytail. Ruby waved at her: “Hey Yang! What time is it?" Her sister chuckled: “Half past ten. Dad made breakfast downstairs, he saved a milkshake for you”. As soon as the girl heard the word "Milkshake" her brain went back to ten, smearing a huge smile on her face and making her dash down the stairs with her semblance. Blake, sitting on the sofa while reading one of her favorite books, barely had time to feel a breeze ruffle her hair before she saw a red whirlwind turn into her leader, slip on the carpet in front of the kitchen door, and crash face first into the fridge. The faunus couldn't hold back her laughter, to the point that she had to put down the book and hold herself back not to fall too; Ruby, meanwhile, had taken the glass with the milkshake and was looking at Blake with a less than amused look. When the faunus managed to stop, she wiped away her tears: "G-Good, oooooff, Good morning Ruby" The leader rolled her eyes: "'Morning. Do you think you can stop laughing in my face? " Blake caught her breath, giggling from time to time: "Can you blame me?" Ruby started to answer, but was interrupted by a recently awake Weiss who definitely needed her makeup: "How can you be so noisy so early in the morning?" Ruby giggled: "Well, it's half past ten, not exactly 'early in the morning'." Blake smiled wickedly: "And also, Ruby crashed into the refrigerator" the leader almost spat the milk in Weiss's face: "Blake!" The heiress sighed: "I wonder why that doesn't surprise me". Ruby blushed, trying to change the subject: “T-the coffee is ready. The sugar is in the blue jar. ”Weiss headed into the kitchen yawning as Blake picked up the book and Ruby finished her milkshake and sprinted upstairs to dress.

Yang returned to the house at eleven as she wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. Blake was still reading on the sofa when the blonde leaned back on the sofa spying on her book: "What are you reading?" Blake smiled: "The last volume of The Man with Two Souls. You know, what I made you read back at Beacon… " Yang nodded. "I remember. It was the book you were reading in the first day of school, wasn't it? " The faun giggled giving her a pat on the nose: "I couldn't have guessed your memory worked so well" The other, in response, scratched her between the feline ears: "The more you know". While the two were intent on talking / flirting with each other, Weiss and Ruby went downstairs dressed in overalls and jeans. Weiss took out a cloth bag: “Ruby and I are going shopping. Do you need anything in particular? " Blake shrugged, while Yang gave Ruby a smirk to which she replied with an accomplice nod. The heiress looked puzzled at the two sisters, then sighed: "I guess i'll just follow Ruby. We'll be home for lunch” And with this the two went out. Taiyang came out of the kitchen at that moment: "Did they went out?" Yang nodded, “Yup. Did you wanted to ask for something?" The man shook his head: "Not really. I wanted to tell them to tell Ms. Markoth that I'm not willing to take parents-teacher drinking rounds.” Blake chuckled. “Seriously?" Taiyang shrugged: "To be honest, the Markoths are actually nice people. But I know the guests, and those are a lot less nice" Yang rolled her eyes: "Let me guess: the Bobas? "

"Buba. And yes, they are one of the problems "

Blake tilted her head to the side: "What do you mean?"

Taiyang shrugged again: "It's very simple: they hate me"

"Oh"

The man made a nonchalant gesture with his hand: "You can't be liked by everyone. And trust me, us teachers receive plenty of insults practically weekly"

Yang sat down on the arm of the sofa: "One of the reasons Uncle Qrow stopped teaching, right?"

Her father grinned: "That ... and the fact that he couldn't get in class sober more than once a month."

The two girls bursted out laughing.

"Ruby, may I know exactly what we're looking for?"

The two girls had been touring the town for twenty minutes with their hands full of shopping bags. Ruby was analyzing every square inch of every single alley, looking increasingly dissatisfied: "The thing Yang wants!" was the snorted reply. Weiss looked at the shops that overlooked the town's main square; the assortment of products was incredibly vast, with shops selling items for huntsmen next to a bar overlooked by an electronics store. The heiress thought that having a fighting school on the island had forced local traders to expand their business to meet everyone's needs and at the same time avoid competing with each other. What could Yang possibly want so specific that it was so hard to find? Ruby finally sat down on a bench in front of the huntsman statue in the central square, rubbing her head and muttering. Weiss sighed standing beside her. “Look, Yang will understand. Don't worry too much" the leader was pinching the bridge of her nose: "yet I could swear... " suddenly her face lit up:" Of course! " she exclaimed jumping to her feet "Now I remember where it is!". Grabbing Weiss by the sleeve she began to drag her to the seafront where, after another ten minutes of searching and complaining, Ruby finally stopped in front of a shop. The sign was old and rusty to the point that it was impossible to read what was written on it; luckily, a sheet of paper stuck in front of the door read 'Murdoc's workshop: everything you need to revive your machinery!' Weiss looked puzzled at the dilapidated complex, but Ruby didn't give her time to express her doubts as she pushed her inside without too many ceremonies.

The girls were struck by the contrast between inside and outside: the workshop was clean and tidy, despite the stench of oil and rust that permeated the air. Several bicycles were piled in a corner, clearly kept only for the parts that could still be used, while on the other side of the room a girl with long black hair was welding two pieces of metal with a blowtorch. As soon as she finished and took off her protective mask, Ruby could see that she was very pretty, with emerald green eyes and, strange for a mechanic, ice blue eyeshadow. The girl noticed the customers and got up to meet them: “Good morning. What do you need?" Her tone was cold and cruel, as if she didn't want to be there or wasn't happy to see them (Weiss concluded that she was both). Ruby looked at her in a puzzled way: "Um ... is there by chance Mr. Murdoc?" The other hardened her expression even more: "Why? Am I not doing well, Miss Remnant-on-Air?" The tone of her voice activated every maternal instinct possessed by Weiss, who stood in front of her leader with the expression she used when she was ready to quarrel and, if necessary, to fight: "Is that any way to speak to a customer? "

The other opened her mouth to answer, but in that moment a large man with black hair and a beard reaching to his chest came out of the back of the shop, followed by an exact copy of the cashier, only with short hair and red eyeshadow. The man looked at the girl: "Melanie, what are you-" his voice dropped as soon as he saw Ruby, letting a broad smile open on his face: "Miss Rose!" She smiled and let herself be hugged as if the man were a distant relative: "it's nice to see you again, Mr. Murdoc" He laughed: "I couldn't believe it when I saw the message you sent, you know?" Ruby sighed, “I guess so. It's not an easy thing to accept… but we managed to-" Murdoc cut her off: "No, no, not that. I mean, it is certainly alarming, but I was referring to the fact that you have grown a lot!" The girl with the red eyeshadow made a loud facepalm: "Dad ... please ..." Weiss looked at the two girls with the realization painting on his face: "Wait a moment...I recognize you! Yang told us about you!" Melanie rolled her eyes: “Great. We just needed the blonde to make gossips" Ruby glared at her, but Murdoc stepped in:" Excuse her Miss Rose, it's been like this since the Fall of Beacon. You see, the place where they worked was destroyed and their employer disappeared shortly after. I couldn't leave my baby girls alone, and I certainly couldn't let their mother know they were free…she's not a nice woman… ” Miltia shivered, which Melanie calmed by squeezing her hand. Ruby smiled softly: “I understand. Anyway, we came here on behalf of Yang" The man smiled knowingly: "Aah, now I understand. Miltia, dear,” he added, turning to one of them, “could you go to the back and get a cold fusion candle?” She nodded and walked to the back of the shop as Murdoc returned to talk to Ruby: “How's Yang doing? Has she recovered? " Ruby nodded, “More or less. She's not the same as when we were in Beacon, of course, but she has a lot less nightmares." The man smiled: "It's good to hear it" The girl returned at that moment with the requested engine part. After paying and putting away the component, Ruby turned to the twins: “Just so you know, Yang's back home again. You should go and visit it one of these days." They snorted away, but their father patted them on their back laughing: " We'd be glad to!" and with this the two huntresses left the workshop.

“Junior's bouncers are Murdoc's daughters? You're kidding, right?" Yang put a piece of steak in her mouth as she listened to Ruby telling about the little adventure she had in the morning. Taiyang swallowed a sip of beer: "Do you know them?" The blonde nodded: “They worked in one of the clubs I frequented when I was in Beacon. We've had a couple of...discussions, in the past" Ruby raised an eyebrow: "Yang, one night that I came to pick you up, you threw the owner of the bar out the window with Ember Celica" Yang raised her hands giggling: "Touchè" Weiss wiped her mouth with a napkin, addressing the blonde in the meantime: "Yang, can you tell me what a cold fusion candle is?" Taiyang glared at his daughter: "I told you to stop using those pieces" She raised her hands in self-defense: "Hey, they come at a good price! And then again, Hornet desperately needs them.” His father sighed,“ Yes, but they're also quite illegal.” Blake's ears pricked up in concern, while Weiss nearly choked on soda: "What do you mean illegal?!" Yang shrugged: "They say they're dangerous, but people like talk big" Blake raised an eyebrow: "Did you mounted one on Bumblebee?" The blonde nodded: "Yeah, why?" The fauned leaned forward on the table: "Because now I think I know why it exploded in Argus that time" Ruby looked at the two: "uhh ... what are you talking about?" Yang scratched her head nervously: "N-nothing Rubes..." Tai sighed, "I'll pretend I didn't hear what Blake said." "Thanks dad."

Yang went to the garage after having cleaned up the kitchen, with the candle in one hand and a toolbox in the other. Weiss had taken a reclining chair and napped on the lawn, while Ruby and Blake had gone into the forest near the house to look for berries and mushrooms (taking their weapons with them, just in case). The blonde opened the door and took out the motorcycle, once floating, taken from Atlas. It had been modified to the point of making it almost unrecognizable: the previously flat nose was pointed and aerodynamic, while the handlebars had been reduced to those of sports bikes. Under the bike, where the dust condenser was, space had been made for the wheels while the condenser itself was moved into the heart of the vehicle. The rear rotor was still there, but smaller, and tailpipes were added for the gasoline engine. Engine that needed that candle, Yang thinked to herself, turning the piece over in her hand. Returning to the garage she looked at the engine placed on a table, surrounded by spare parts, lubricating oil tolls and dirty clothes. That engine would've had a problem or two accommodating a candle like that...but Yang knew very well how to make it work; she immediately started with the grinder, making a terrible sound that had Weiss jumping out of the chair making her scream many, very colorful swearings. Even Ruby and Blake, from the forest, clearly heard the noises coming from the house: “I think Yang is in trouble…” Ruby sounded worried, but Blake chuckled: “You know Weiss. She'll scream like a harpy for a couple of minutes and then find something else to do, possibly away from Yang." She was walking while talking, not noticing the hole she was about to step into if Ruby hadn't grabbed her shoulder. The faunus backed away slightly embarrassed, while her leader giggled: “Watch your step. This forest is plenty full of holes" Blake followed Ruby, looking around and taking pictures with the scroll every now and then: "Ruby, how do you know this forest so well? Did you went in here to play?" She shrugged: “More or less. We liked taking walks with mum and dad, stopping every now and then for picnics when we arrived in the undergrowth or a meadow." Blake smiled: "Your mother must have been a great woman. Yang told me about her a few times, and she always used nice words "Ruby smiled taking some blueberries and putting them in a wicker basket:"She really must have been" Blake approached her leader, putting a hand on her shoulder: "Are you alright?" Ruby wiped her wet eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt: "Yes, don't worry"

A particular noise distracted the two girls from their thoughts: a long, fast pecking, similar to the sound of a machine gun but which made you feel the wooden nature of the surface. Ruby whispered to Blake: "Take the scroll" pointing to a nearby tree: looking up, the faunus saw a woodpecker with a scarlet head and a black body repeatedly hitting the bark of the tree with the beak, stopping from time to time. Blake widened her eyes in amazement, taking bursts of photos with the scroll;suddently, Ruby called her attention by throwing a stick at her: before she could protest the leader pointed a mother boar and her cubs lying under a tree, the piglets busy drinking the milk from the belly of the mother. The smile on Blake's face widened even more and she leaned out with the scroll starting to take pictures, but Ruby held her back: "Blake, don't come near" the faunus chuckled softly: "Come on! They're not Grimm!" The leader tightened her grip around her partner's arm: “It doesn't mean they're not dangerous. Especially a mother with the piglets at her side." Blake looked at Ruby: her leader's gaze was hard and did not allow for replies. Swallowing slowly, Blake took a step back and started taking pictures zooming in as much as possible to get a good image of the scene. After a little while, the girl lowered the scroll and put it in her pocket: "I'm done." Ruby nodded, signaling her partner not to make noise and starting to take the way home.

They came out of the woods that the sun was starting to set. There were no more strange sounds from the garage but in return Yang could be seen tinkering the motorcycle, soiled with engine oil from head to toe. Blake whistled as she approached, attracting Yang's attention and making her smile: "Hey babe. You like what you see?" she added, leaning on the bike with a sly look. Blake rolled her eyes, grinning, “A lot. I didn't think a motorcycle could be sexy" The blonde chuckled:"That's because you never understood them" she said taking off her gloves and wiping her forehead with a towel well beyond salvage: "As soon as it's over, the Grimms will only see a yellow flash darting around the streets of Vale before my fist disintegrates them!" Blake handed Yang a bottle of water: "What a poetic description. It almost seems that you are starting to take an interest in poetry" Yang made an annoyed face: "For your information, I like poems" the faunus raised an eyebrow:" Really? And what about the one you wrote at Atlas? " the blonde lightly blushed fiddling her fingers: "I ... like reading them ...". Their chat was interrupted by Taiyang: “Hey girls! Come and help us with dinner! And Yang, go take a shower immediately! " The girl sighed: "Daaaaaaaad, you don't have to tell me every time!" Ruby poked her head out: "We don't want risk having to clean the whole house!" She and her father bumped their fists, while Yang came back muttering, "Ruby, you should be defending me, not helping him."

Around the table the girls were enjoying a berry tart, by courtesy of Ruby, while Blake showed Yang the photos taken in the woods. The blonde smiled: "You managed to see a mother boar and you're still here to tell the tale?" Blake looked at her confused, but Ruby replied, “We didn't come that close. Luckily she didn't notice us." Weiss wiped her mouth looking at the leader. "Ruby, you're both official huntsmen and you had your weapons with you. Don't you think that maybe you would've been able to deal with it? " Ruby countered: "We couldn't lift a finger on her, the mayor would've given us the fine of a lifetime. It's not hunting season yet. ”Taiyang continued:“ And even then, special permits are needed to hunt them, and the weapons and ammunition must be certified and approved by the municipality and the game hunting consortium.” Blake and Weiss were now all ears: "Why going so far to protect a boar?" Yang took her scroll and showed an article about Patch's Boar: “Because Patch's are different from all the other Remnant's boars. They are known as "Black tuft" due to the typical horizontal stripe above the eyes"

Weiss made an astonished expression: "Did you said black tuft? "

"Ever heard of it?"

“Well… when I was little, I remember my dad loved eating black tuft stew.”

Taiyang nodded, “This variety has a more soft-tasting flesh than normal boar, which makes it suitable for the more refined Atlesians tastes. No offense, Weiss" the heiress shook her head: "Oh, don't worry" Yang put away the scroll:" Since Atlas's demand for Black Tuft meat has always been very high, the island ended up being invaded by poachers. Thus, a few years ago, the local administration put wild boar among the protected species, starting to distribute fines and take away the visa from many people. Atlas obviously protested but nothing has changed so far " Blake whistled impressed: "I didn't think there was anyone in Remnant willing to protect an animal capable of killing you" Taiyang chuckled: "It's the beauty of living in peace. You can afford to worry about something other than yourself" Weiss sighed dreamily: "Peace on Remnant...it would be a dream come true" Ruby smiled: "Isn't that the reason we're huntresses?"

After finishing dinner and having cleaned up the kitchen, Ruby had the idea playing one of her old board games, Kingdoms Rising, with her teammates. However, after starting the game, it was clear that night would've put Team RWBY's bonds to the test

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN A CASTLE IN ATLAS?!"

“I means a castle in Atlas, Weiss. I don't see the problem"

Blake was disintegrating the other three with a sadism hard to even fathom. Atlas was by far the most expensive kingdom in terms of tolls, and was firmly in Blake's hands who was using it to suck dry an unfortunate Weiss. She had bought part of Mistral and Argus, but it did not have the black market that could help it to amortize the expenses that the faunus imposed on it and what little of Vale she had wasn't expensive enough to be relevant. "The problem is that now I will have to pay you 30,000 Liens every single time I end up in Atlas!"

Ruby sighed in despair, “Stop complaining, Weiss. You're situation is not even that bad"

In fact, the supposed leader of the team was much worse off. She had most of Vale and had managed to wrestle Menagerie from Blake, but not even the White Fang and the extra amount of Dust she could steal from Atlas were enough to repay the kingdom's heavy taxation. Ruby began to suspect that Blake would let her use the White Fang only to then use the Atlas Army and take it back for double pay. Either way, her deposit was starting to scrape the bottom.

Yang was steaming with rage: "Blake, after tonight I swear, if you mention me "Non-aggression pact" I will stop talking to you for the rest of the day"

The blonde was in control of all of Vacuo and the black market in Mistral. It turned out that Vacuo seemed to exist only to be Atlas's Dust repository: Vacuo gains Dust at every turn with the mines, Atlas comes to Vacuo threatening to kill everyone if they don't agree to negotiate, Vacuo accepts and delivers half the Dust in its storage, Dust that Blake would then have done her the courtesy of reselling at double the price thanks to SDC. The few Liens in Yang's coffers came from the Black Market that Ruby was forced to use whenever she used the White Fang.

Blake smiled cruelly: “Did you wanted to play? Now let's play "

Blake was on an absolute roll. Control over all Atlas, its army, the SDC and an Huntsmen Academy made her unbeatable. Ruby wanted to make a hit with White Fang? The army catches her as soon as she comes to Atlas, takes back the Dust, fine. Yang wanted to stop giving her the Dust? Aggression by the army, control of the mines, all of Vacuo's Dust ends up in Atlas' pockets. Weiss wanted to close the ports of Argus? Blake stops sending her the huntsmen needed to keep the Grimms at bay, the city is razed to the ground, Atlas rebuilds it, and no one dares to question anything ever again. Her teammates had not yet gone bankrupt because she wanted to keep playing. The faunus crossed her legs with an evil grin: “I have to say, this game is fun. I have to remember to buy it when I'll go living on my own" Yang pointed her finger at her accusingly: "Don't you dare, Belladonna. Don't. You. Dare." Blake looked at her predatory: “We could try a strip variant…when it's just the two of us” Weiss threw herself on the chair putting her hands in her hair: “DON'T START FLIRTING! IT JUST MAKES IT WORSE!" Ruby rested her head on the table: "It's over ... we can't do anything ..." The faunus chuckled: "Come on now. We still have thirty minutes before midnight, and I want to see how much I can earn before the new day begins "

Match results:

Blake- 1,345,000 lien

Yang- 320,000 lien

Weiss- 120,000 lien

Ruby- 50,000 lien.


End file.
